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Tuesday, 9 July 2013

We lost a Lady Scoundrel in a mountain of books so from today it's just me and Ram discussing braaaaaaaaaaains!

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Max Brooks

Ram: Are you sorry that I talked you into reading this?

Blod: Well....honestly I can’t make my mind up. Some parts were really good, other parts were boring and I skimmed. But still totally worth it.

Ram: That’s probably why it took me several days to read this book. Instead of skimming through the boring parts I pushed and read them too. And then the next oral account was brilliant and I’d read until I realised there was something else I had to do.

Blod: Good for you. Alas, I am lazy and some military parts were just sooooo snoozeworthy. I had to skim those

Ram: The endless lists of ammunition and weapons capabilities weren’t my idea of fun but I managed because of what those parts represented. The wastefulness of existing hierarchies and the lack of common sense.

Blod: First, yes, god, the weapons stuff. I can’t stand that stuff, so I fear I did not think as much as you did in those parts. Though there were some military stories that were really good. I guess it was the heavy tech ones that was not for me. And I am not big on the whole military=heroes thing.

Ram: That’s because you’re a Finn and not an American and this book definitely is an American novel written for Americans. Even the parts set in other countries felt like criticism towards some American values and fears to me. Like it would have been too much if everything had happened in continental USA only. And it wouldn’t have been believable considering the modern world and how easy it is to travel around the globe.

Blod: Totally. This was truly the American we will win over those freaking zombies too! And how in the end it was those who rallied and first cleaned their own country and then went forward. Not a fan of that. Why did everyone else suck except for the US...oh and Cuba, ha.

Ram: And why was the Finnish story not about Finns?

Blod: Sad sad day. I am sorry but why did we perish. Do we not know how to survive when it gets cold and it snows...

Ram: And practically every house has a firearm or ten because people hunt and then there are the crazy gun collectors but that’s a story for another day. I’m pretty sure I’d just gone home and we’d have managed just fine without escaping North. I don’t have any castles near by where I live like you do ;)

Blod: Lol, I forgot that Finland and Yemen has most guns per people ;) And the whole go North...eh, I already live in the North. The whole of Finland is in the north, we can deal. It gets cold, it gets dark. And my castle is sadly far south, the one up here we tore apart and build other things. Stupid us.

Ram: Anyhow, what did you think about the post Zombie War world?

Blod: Maybe...MAYBE the learned that people should stick together and also learned to treat our planet better. Hopefully, andI like to think so

Ram: I thought that it showed how fixing one thing doesn’t magically fix all the other problems and that there’ll always be new challenges for humanity. And as for the Russians, that felt like the author’s true fear for what could happen to Americans. The religious extremism and assassin priests.

Blod: Still a cool part, the whole making babies for Russia...scary!

Ram: You almost typed Stalin, didn’t you? Making babies for Stalin. Another fear that’s dangerously close to becoming reality seeing how the abortion issue is being handled in the US right now.

Blod: Now you are scaring me, I do not like to think about the dark hole US could fall into. Religion, crazy people and guns...

Blod: Crazy racism? We do have that. I read something in the paper about the sound of boots echoing through Europe, nice. We are such a sweet people.

Ram: I don’t know about that. We do try but sometimes we make idiotic mistakes and because people are inured to being told what to do after centuries and millenia of authority figures, kings and queens and such, we’re slow to take action sometimes. The French have their riots occasionally though.

Blod: I think we need to get back to the zombies ;)..ok any favorite story you remember?

Ram: I didn’t have a favourite story, I thought the different accounts blended in together nicely and I just liked the whole thing.

Blod: Some stories stand out more for me. Like the Chinese sub and the blind guy in Japan. And I still wonder what happened to Israel after the wall and civil war.

Ram: That’s true, we never got back to those but we had the Canadian girl saying she tries not be bitter. What was that?

Blod: We always did get back to the US stories....

Ram: Because this is an AMERICAN book.

Blod: Oh I forgot ;)

Ram: Would you recommend it?

Blod: Yes, sure some parts dragged but hey zombies! And I still think about where I would run. I am deadly scared of zombies.

Ram: I feel like I need to get a shovel now and ask Dad to sharpen the blade for it. So, yes, read it. For the society critique if not for the zombies.

Blod: I did like the society critique. And then I think about the movie I have not seen...yeah, we have to see it and discuss it in the fall.

36 comments:

Another entertaining post, at least you both seemed to enjoy it. An American book all about how the awesome Americans defeat the zombies well it sounds a little elitist. Are we Americans really that bad? I think I will skip the book and watch the movie as it has Brad Pitt... drool....

I love these posts! Glad you enjoyed it overall despite its American leanings and the more boring entries. Curious, have either of you seen the movie? I wonder what your opinion of it would be. It's very different from the book.

What a fantastic discussion again, gals! I so enjoy your joint reviews! This one especially because World War Z is one of my favorite books As for Russia and religious extremists, unfortunately this happens right now. No forceful pregnancy yet and priests assassins, but as for the rest - it's not in a better place than US unfortunately.... I also loved Japanese story and was very curious about Israel.

I see some of it in the papers but not nearly enough or as in depth as the articles written about US battles in the area. That's why I always forget about the horrific gay 'propaganda' laws and restrictions on criticising the Orthodox Church until someone reminds me. Thanks for that.

I loved the Japanese point of views too. What did happen to Israel? Are they still isolated from the rest of the world? ;)